Sony Shares Fall Due to PS3 Overheating Claim

Shares in Sony fell after an analyst claimed its long awaited Playstation 3 console gets a bit too hot. Sony had a few technical hitches at the Tokyo Game Show, according to the Washington Post. Macquarie Equities analyst David Gibson wrote that PS3 units on display at the show operated erratically and had to be repeatedly reset.

the Inquirer - Playstation 3 "gets too hot"

About 200 PlayStation 3 units were clustered together in close proximity and housed in kiosks that concentrated the heat generated by their processors and provided poor ventilation, [Sony spokeswoman Nanako Kato] said. Overheating under such circumstances is a common affliction at trade shows, afflicting not just Sony products but those of its competitors, she said.

Washington Post - Sony Shares Fall on Playstation Concerns

That’s entirely possible, particularly since the PS3 is expected to contain some serious cooling technology. Even Microsoft’s Xbox 360 needs a liquid cooling system to prevent the console from overheating, as revealed by a recent attempt to convert the console into a laptop.

Confirmation, of sorts, comes via PS3M magazine in the UK, recently given a demo of the machine. Staffers claim the console is not only very quiet but also very heavy, factors which point to some aggressive, fan-less cooling - not to mention a hefty in-box power transformer.

Unlike the Tokyo demo units, the PS3M machine wasn’t sealed in, allowing plenty of space for the heat to escape. Of course, none of these consoles may be consumer-ready equipment, even though Sony is now believed to be punching out PS3s as fast as it can.

Reg Hardwarwe - PS3 overheating claim rattles investors